Saints Pitching Dominates In 3-1 Victory Over Bats

_ST. PAUL, MN _*(September 18, 2022) - *Their Sunday starter was called up to the Major Leagues. That forced the St. Paul Saints to use their starter for Monday. Ariel Jurado threw 39 pitches in the first inning and things looked dire. That was the last sign of trouble for any Saints pitcher as they retired the final 17 hitters, faced the minimum from the second inning on, and beat the Louisville Bats 3-1 on Sunday afternoon at CHS Field in front of 7,008.

Jurado walked the leadoff batter, Mike Siani. He stole second and scored on a two-out fielding error by third baseman Jake Rucker making it 1-0.

The Saints tied it in the bottom of the inning courtesy of a solo homer from Chris Williams, his 10th at Triple-A. Williams went 2-4 with a home run, RBI, and a run scored.

Jurado retired the side in order in the second and third before giving up a leadoff single in the fourth. With one out, Jurado got a ground ball double play to end the inning. Jurado went 6.0 innings allowing one unearned on two hits while walking one and striking out three.

Wander Javier, who joined the Saints on Saturday and collected his first Triple-A hit and RBI, added his first Triple-A home run in the third with a solo shot to left making it 2-1.

Brock Stewart tossed the seventh and retired all three guys he faced getting a strikeout.

The Saints got another solo home run to add to their lead in the seventh as Dalton Shuffield drilled one over the right-center field wall, his first at Triple-A, making it 3-1.

Jake Jewell finished it off for the Saints tossing 2.0 perfect innings of relief and striking out three in picking up his fifth save of the season, first with the Saints.

The Saints begin a new series on Monday night at Victory Field against the Indianapolis Indians at 5:35 p.m. Both teams are TBA. The game can be heard on KFAN Plus, 96.7 FM.